Elsa and Charles

[Stephen Whiteside]

Elsa and Charles

© Stephen Whiteside 25.09.2011

There once was a couple named Elsa and Charles
Who travelled Australia for marles and marles.
They even developed a bad case of parles
From bouncing all day in their truck.

They worked really hard. (Hey, you make your own luck.)
They faced many problems, and often got stuck
But never, it seems, were they tempted to chuck
The dreams of their life-time in.

They worked to present the wide world with a grin.
Setbacks they took fair and square on the chin;
Unearthed a new star by the name 'Errol Flynn'
In a movie they made - "In the Wake

Of the Bounty". That man was a bit of a rake,
Seduced many women. Made good husbands shake
In their boots. The film wasn't about Francis Drake,
But Bligh, who was vicious and petty.

The men fell in love with the girls at Papeete,
Entwined in embraces all breathless and sweaty,
Then kissed them good-bye at the end of the jetty.
Deserters were told they would swing

From the yardarms, and then their dead bodies they'd fling
To the sea, a threat likely bad karma to bring.
A mutinous tune the crew soon came to sing,
Led by a big fellow called Fletcher

Christian. Though not educated, you betcha,
He still was a leader, delivered a letcha
Quite well; your good mate, though he never had metcha -
A sailor, indeed, of some note.

They threw Captain Bligh in a small open boat,
With a map and a compass and wool overcoat.
He made a long journey, which later he wrote
As a book. It became a top rater.

Alas, on the Bounty, they'd no navigator;
No way to interpret the surfeit of data.
They figgered they'd have to strike land, soon or later,
They did, at a pin-prick called Pit

Cairn Island. It first set them back quite a bit,
But in time they could see it might be a good fit -
Remote, yet they all still could manage on it.
At last they perfected the art.

So Elsa and Charles, as I said at the start,
Were a very good team, and they never did part.
Their filmic success, it went right off the chart!
Hurray, then, for Elsa and Charles!

[Zondrae]

morning Stephen,

A different 'bent' on history. Like the style and chuckled at the distorted English.

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Zondrae. I've often admired the rhyming pattern where the last line dictates the rhyme for the next verse, but I don't think I've ever tackled it until now. I kept forgetting what I was doing, though - too much to think about, I think - so I had to do a fair bit of re-writing as I was typing it out.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Love these history lessons - well done Stephen

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Maureen. This poem started out as being about Elsa and Charles, but morphed into the story of the Bounty - which is a much more interesting story, really - then I had to make a desperate lunge to get it back on track at the end. The Chauvels made films which were much more interesting than their own lives, really - which is exactly as it should be. We don't want artists upstaging their own work!

[Heather]

Started giggling from the second line Stephen. I think Elsa and Charles got lost along the way but I really enjoyed the distorted words. Very clever.

Heather

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks, Heather.

[worddancer]

Good Stuff Stephen,

Another history in poetry, what a hysterical historical anthology for ABPA fun-raising!

Love the fun we find in history.

Great format, I like the rhyming of the last line with the following verse; very clever

Writing is great, one starts with the basic idea and then the words come and take over control!

[r.magnay]

... G'day Doc,
I have just driven 550kms over some pretty rough old roads from way out in the desert, that is just what I needed.....great!

Do I detect shades of CJ there?..

[Stephen Whiteside]

Thanks worddancer, Ross. I'd like to think there's a bit of CJ influence there. He was certainly very inventive with his rhymes, wasn't he. I get a bit sick of both the AABB and the ABAB. It's nice to strike out a bit every now and then. I don't recall CJ doing exactly this, but he very well may have done. The first poet I noticed it with was not actually an Australian at all, but the American, Robert Frost (the 'road less travelled' man). He does it with 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening', to great effect.